Illuminated heel for lady&#39;s shoe



March 28, 1961 F. M. SHEAROUSE 2,976,622

ILLUMINATED HEEL FOR LADYS SHOE Filed May 7, 1958 INVENTOR lfvderiaifll. Siemz'awe ATTORNEYS United States Patent ILLUMINATED HEEL FOR LADYS SHOE Frederick M. Shearouse, 510 Monk St., Brunswick, Ga.

Filed May 7, 1958, Ser. No. 733,585

Claims. (Cl. 36-1) This invention relates to ladies shoes and more particularly to ladies novelty shoes wherein an electric light and battery are mounted within a shoe and an electric circuit is completed and broken with each step of the wearer to illuminate and turn off the electric light.

Ladies novelty shoes having a battery concealed in the heel of the shoe with lights mounted on the toes, instep and sides of the shoe and having wiring to complete an electrical circuit through a switch projecting from the center of the heel tap have been provided in the past.

The present invention is concerned with providing a ladies dancing slipper having a lighted plastic heel in which full advantage is taken of the light conducting characteristics of the plastic of which the heel is made.

Lighted shoes having a heel switch installed through the heel to contact the floor require that the wearer lift the heel from the floor to turn off the light. Such a switch and the incident wiring would detract from the installation of an electric light installed in a plastic heel. Also a switch plunger or shaft extending from the center of the heel tap causes the wearer to be unsure of a safe footing which causes anxiety to the wearer and interferes with execution of intricate dance steps on a waxed dance floor. Also wax and grit on the dance floor will enter the socket for the switch plunger and render the circuit inoperative for the purpose it is designed, namely, to have the heels of the shoe twinkle in time with the dance steps.

Consequently, it is an object of the present invention to provide a ladies dancing shoe having a plastic heel with an electric light which twinkles in time with a dance step being executed by the wearer.

It is another object of the invention to eliminate an unsightly switch and electrical wiring from the heel in the area of the heel tap.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel switch means for said plastic heel which has its operative parts fully protected from dirt, wax and the like.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a lighted plastic heel for dancing shoes which takes full advantage of the light conducting properties of the plastic.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a dancing shoe having an illuminated plastic heel in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a rear elevational view of the dancing shoe shown in Figure 1, the battery and electric lamp being shown in dotted lines;

Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the plastic heel portion of the shoe shown in Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken on the line 44 of Figure 3.

The present invention will be described with respect to ladys dancing shoes having illuminated plastic heels but it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that other implementations of the inventive concept may take the form of mens dancing'shoes having illuminated plastic heels, or street shoes having illuminated plastic heels.

Adverting now to the drawings and more particularly Figures 1 and 3, a ladies dancing shoe 10 is shown having the well-known outer sole 11, inner sole 12, plastic toe strap or open-toe upper 13, liner 14 and elastic retainer strap 15. A heel 16 made of a light-conducting plastic such as, for example, a synthetic resin of the polymethacrylic acid ester type, is attached to the sole, at the heel seat, of the shoe as shown by means of screws 17 which pass through the inner sole 12 and threadedly engage the heel 16 to secure the heel to the sole of the shoe.

A central bore 18 is provided in the heel 16 and inner I sole 12. The bore 18 extends through the heel in a vertical direction and terminates a substantial distance above the heel tap 19. A 1 /2-volt flashlight bulb 20 is mounted in a socket 21 having positive and negative terminals 22 and 23, respectively, and is inserted in the base 18a of the bore 18. A battery 24 is inserted in the bore 18 with its positive terminal in alignment with the positive terminal 22 of the socket 21. The positive terminal 22 of the socket 21 is made convex to extend above the plane of the negative terminal 23 of the socket 21. A helically wound coil spring 25 having good electrical conducting properties, such as a spring madeof copper-clad steel or spring brass, is interposed between the socket 21 and the battery 24 to bias the battery away from the socket. To insure that the spring 25 and the socket 21 are axially aligned when they are slidingly inserted in the bore 1 the spring 25 may be fastened in place on the socket 21 by soldering small lengths of wire 26 to connect these elements together.

Thus, the bulb 20, socket 21 and spring 25 may be inserted into the bore 18 as a unit. The battery 24 is a 1 /2- volt battery. In order to insure that the zinc or negative pole 27 of the battery makes good contact with spring 25 the paper or insulating covering of the battery should be removed at least from the top edge of the zinc casing of the battery.

The liner 14 forms a closure for the bore 18 and from the point 28, which is located in front of the bore 18, to the rear of the heel portion of the shoe, the liner 14 is not permanently adhered to the inner sole 12. A snap fastener 29 is the fastening means shown in the drawings, but a resealable-type pressure-sensitive adhesive 30 mav also be used alone or with the snap fastener.

The battery 24 normally reposes in the bore 18 with its positive terminal 31 spaced from the positive terminal 22 of the socket 21, being biased therefrom by the spring 25. However, when the weight of the wearer is supported by the heel of the shoe, the battery 24 is pressed downward in the bore 18 and a circuit is completed through the positive terminal 31 of-the battery, the positive terminal 22 of the socket 21, the filament of the light bulb 20, the negative terminal 23 of the socket 211, the spring 25 to the negative terminal 27 of the battery 24. When the heel of the shoe is relieved of the weight of the wearer, as when she lifts her foot, or shifts her weight to the toe of the shoe without removing the heel of the shoe from the floor, the spring 25 biases the terminals 31 and 22 apart breaking the circuit. The light 20 is turned on and oil with each step, or it may be made to swinkle by merely shifting weight from the heels to the toes.

The lighting of the bulb 20 in a plastic heel creates an attractive and ornamental effect. The effect may be heightened by the use of colored bulbs to match the Wearers dress or accessories. Also, the adhesive 32 used for joining the heel tap 19 to the heel 16 may have a reflective powder incorporated in it to increase the amount of light reflected to the upper portion of the heel.

The heel may also be further ornamented with designs in high or low relief, such as the ornament 33. By the use of one of the well-known dyes which phosphoresce or fiuoresce at light wavelengths generated by the bulb 20, the heel 16 may be further embellished.

While there has been disclosed in theforegoing description a practical embodiment of the illuminated shoe heel in accordance with the present invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that variationsin the im plement of the concept of the invention are within the purview and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A ladys shoe comprising, a heel made of light transmitting material, said heel having abore therein, an electric lamp mounted in said bore, a battery slidably mounted in saidbore, said battery having a centrally disposed terminal and a peripherally disposed terminal, said lamp having a centrally disposed terminal and a peripherally disposed terminal, said centrally disposed terminals and said' pheripherally disposed terminals respectively of said battery and said lamp respectively being held inregistering alignment by said bore of said heel, and electrically conductive biasing means extending between said peripherally disposed terminals of said lamp and said battery respectively urging said centrally disposed terminal of said battery away from said centrally disposed terminal of said lamp.

2. A ladys shoe comprising, a heel made of light transmitting material, said heel having a bore therein, an electric lamp mounted in said bore, a battery slidably mounted in said bore, said battery having a positive and a negative terminal adjacent one end, said lamp having a positive and a negative terminal adjacent one .end, said terminal ends of said battery and said lamp being in confronting relation, means for connecting said negative terminal of said battery to said negative terminal of said lamp, said positive terminal of said battery and said positive terminal of saidlarnp being held in registering alignment, and resilient biasing means interposed between said battery and said lamp to yieldingly hold said positive terminal of said battery out of contact with said positive terminal of said lamp.

3. A ladys shoe comprising, a heel madeof light transmitting material and having a heel tap on one end and an upper end, said heel having a vertical bore extending from said upper end and terminating substantially above said hseltap nc s t is mp ock mou t d n ai o said socket having an outer negative terminal and a centrally disposed positive terminal at one end and a lamp base receiving recess at the other end, an electric lamp having a filament at one end and a base at the other end, said lamp base being mounted in said lamp base receiving recess and having its filament end confronting said end of said vertical bore terminating substantially above said heel tap, a battery. having terminals at one end disposed in matching relationto said terminals of said socket and mounted invertedly in said bore to bring said terminals of said socketiand saidbattery into confronting relation, the other end of said battery, extending outward from the upper end of said vertical bore, anda coil spring axially mounted in bridging relation between said negative terminals of said battery and said socket to bias said positive terminal of said battery away from the positive terminal of saidsockeh 4. A ladys shoe comprising, a shoe heel made of light transmitting material, saidshoe heel having a. substantially vertical bore therein, an electric lamp mounted in said bore, said bore also enclosing a substantially vertically disposed battery having terminals at one end facing toward said lamp, said battery being slidingly movable within said'bore, depressing means between the heel of a wearer and the battery operative to depress said battery, biasing means urging said battery out of electrical engagement with said lamp in an electrical circuit including said lamp which circuit may be energized by said battery being slidinglyirnoved toward said lamp to close said circuit as the Weight of the wearers heel is placed upon said shoe heel.

5; The-structure of claim 4 wherein the shoe heel is long and narrow at the lower portion and tapers upwardly and outwardly therefrom to the heel seat and wherein said bore is disposed within said shoe heel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,597,823 Randolph Aug. 31, 1926 1,933,243 De Merolis et a1. Oct. 31, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS 444,392 Great Britain Mar. 16, 1936 498,808 Italy Sept. 30, 1954 

